Delphi Study on Transcultural Competence: Summary and Reflections on a Call for a Relational Approach

In a world shaped by cultural complexity, knowledge about, and tolerance of, cultural differences seem to be insufficient to successfully cooperate and create value across borders. In this spirit, an international and interdisciplinary Delphi study on transcultural competence was conducted with a panel of around 50 experts. This article summarizes the main findings of this Delphi study that lays the foundations for the contributions collected in this book. As a main insight and common denominator of the study, a relational view on cultural complexity could be identified as a promising step for further debate and research. Such a relational perspective includes considering individuals and organizations in their relational context and invites cross-cultural scholarship to address cultural complexity (differences, commonalities, similarities, etc.) in its relational nature. The study findings thereby highlight that while striving for similarities would end up in homogenization, a pursuit of commonalities involves connecting and building relations that allow differences to co-exist. Against this backdrop, transcultural competence could be particularly associated with the connotation of “beyond” and thus be defined as referring to a general competence of individuals or organizations to intentionally develop new commonalities in contexts of cultural complexity. It refers to the ability and willingness to engage in context-specific processes of constructing new shared meaning and action beyond existing practices by shared experience and mutual learning as a means and result of being in relation. Accordingly, the process that the Delphi group has undergone together, including the preparation of this edited book, represents a transcultural approach in the sense of shared learning stemming from shared experience, the development of new commonalities in contexts of cultural complexity as well as the formation of a community of practice.